Doug Pederson’s non-guarantee guarantee was guaranteed to grab the attention of the Cowboys.
While most players had no public negative reaction about the Eagles coach’s off-the-cuff “we’re gonna win” on WIP radio that he later insisted at a press conference wasn’t a victory guarantee, Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence sounded off.
“He’s gotta come here,” Lawrence said, via Clarence E. Hill, Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Tell him to come on. We ready. Can he play the game? He might want to shut his ass up and stay on the sidelines. He can’t play the game for them.”
The Cowboys know that this year’s Sunday night showdown with the Eagles carries similar significance to last year’s, a Dallas win in Philadelphia that provided the spark for a 7-1 second half of the season.
“We have went through this before,” Lawrence said, according to Hill. “We have seen hell. We done dug out of the pits of it. We was 3-5 last year. What is it to fear? We know what we got to do. We are doing to show it. Period.”
Lawrence, as noted by Hill, has seen his reps reduced in recent weeks. Lawrence made it clear that he’ll be playing more on Sunday night.
“You don’t have to worry about it this week,” Lawrence said. “Doug Pederson done called us out. So y’all know what it is.”
What it is is a great Sunday night game. Coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. ET on NBC with Football Night in America.